Things you didn't know about... Chelsea

Chelsea: a river runs through it
And we don't mean the Thames. The largely subterranean river Westbourne runs across Sloane Square—in a pipe. Before that, it flows through—and tops up—the Serpentine.

Chelsea Embankment was built by a forebear of the creator of Big Brother
Sir Joseph Bazalgette built the Embankment here as part of his massive undertaking to construct a robust sewage system for the whole of London in around 1870—144 km (83 mi) of main sewers and 1,760 km (1,100 mi) of street sewers. His great-great-grandson Peter Bazalgette created the TV show Big Brother.

Sir Christopher Wren was an architectural magpie
It seems London's great architect "borrowed" the plans for the Royal Chelsea Hospital. The main edifice is strangely like an earlier French building with the same function.

The Pre-Raphaelites were Chelsea kids
Almost the entire Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood lived and worked in Chelsea. Since then, it's been a centre for artists and craftsmen, painters, sculptors and of course potters—there have been many working potteries and porcelain works here since the 17th century. Hence the famous pub The Chelsea Potter on the King's Road.

Chelsea is a musician's inspiration
Chelsea appears in scores of songs (mainly because there are lots of places called Chelsea in the USA, where it's also a popular forename), including Elvis Costello's (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea. A lot of these songs revolve around the Chelsea Hotel in New York, a favourite band hang-out.

Property in Chelsea is among the priciest in the world
In estate agency jargon, Chelsea is a "Global Ultra Prime Residential Area", which is code for very, very expensive.

Chelsea has no decent football clubs...
The club known as Chelsea FC plays at Stamford Bridge, which is actually in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (as are Fulham and Queens Park Rangers).

Does The Da Vinci Code lead to Chelsea?
In the Army Museum here there is a section of the library devoted to the study of the Knights Templar, the organisation of medieval warrior monks featured in the film The Da Vinci Code.

Books are in chains in Old Church Chelsea
The church contains the only "chained" library in an ecclesiastical building in London. Its location is believed to have been a place of worship since the very beginning of Christianity in Britain. Henry Vlll married Jane Seymour here prior to their state wedding.